Folks, this isn't a day for barbecue... or store sales... or softball.
This is a day for Remembrance.
This is a day to ponder the sacrifices made by the men and women who've gone on before who've given that last, full measure.
We see the invisible... we see those who've fought and left parts of themselves on distant battlefields both physically and mentally. We don't see those who've paid the ultimate price in battle... or as one of the 22 who commit suicide every day here at the home they've defended so well.
My older brother is buried at Willamette. He did not die in battle, nor was he ever in combat. He didn't have the greatest military record, but he enlisted nonetheless, also during the Vietnam War.
But there are many buried around him who shed their blood in battle for us all, and they, in particular, must never be forgotten.
Take a moment during whatever party you go to or whatever else you're doing this weekend to try and remember them. A prayer for those who've fallen and their families wouldn't hurt.
None of them asked to die, but all of them knew they could. Wherever and whenever that sacrifice happened, it was where we sent them in wars we, the government of this country, were participating in.
Memorial Day is about their sacrifice. It's about remembering the costs of having this country. It's about the freedoms we all take for granted without giving a moment's thought to those who've paid the maximum price for what we all have and what we all share.
For those men and women, there is no reset button.
They matter.
Never forget.
This is a day for Remembrance.
This is a day to ponder the sacrifices made by the men and women who've gone on before who've given that last, full measure.
We see the invisible... we see those who've fought and left parts of themselves on distant battlefields both physically and mentally. We don't see those who've paid the ultimate price in battle... or as one of the 22 who commit suicide every day here at the home they've defended so well.
My older brother is buried at Willamette. He did not die in battle, nor was he ever in combat. He didn't have the greatest military record, but he enlisted nonetheless, also during the Vietnam War.
But there are many buried around him who shed their blood in battle for us all, and they, in particular, must never be forgotten.
Take a moment during whatever party you go to or whatever else you're doing this weekend to try and remember them. A prayer for those who've fallen and their families wouldn't hurt.
None of them asked to die, but all of them knew they could. Wherever and whenever that sacrifice happened, it was where we sent them in wars we, the government of this country, were participating in.
Memorial Day is about their sacrifice. It's about remembering the costs of having this country. It's about the freedoms we all take for granted without giving a moment's thought to those who've paid the maximum price for what we all have and what we all share.
For those men and women, there is no reset button.
They matter.
Never forget.
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